Nature, Culture, Geography, Travel & Adventure

Category Archives: nature

Ian Shive is proud to continue pushing the ever-expanding role that nature photography can play by using his recent top-selling book, The National Parks: Our American Landscape to open dialogue in foreign lands. Most recently, Ian’s book was presented to students and people in the embattled town and country of Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. As is often the case, most people there do not think of our country as a haven of stunning wilderness. A self-labeled Wilderness Diplomat, a term Ian coined, he hopes that his book will continue to plant the seeds of conservation in developing nations, but also show a side of the United States that is often overlooked and unknown and, perhaps, open new dialogues with these people by showing that we are not always about development, but also about preserving the heritage and land that is is most meaningful to us. Ian had previously shared his work as a Wilderness Diplomat in the United Arab Emirates.

Ian Shive recently contributed an article to OP on the making-of the most recent production from Wild Collective, the multimedia production company he co-founded with Russell Chadwick. The expansive article gives photographers a basic sense of storytelling and shooting for nature photography with today’s DSLR cameras. Pick up your copy of Outdoor Photographer today or subscribe, or check the article out online at OutdoorPhotographer.com

Ian Shive and the team at Wild Collective were featured in the Summer 2010 issue of the NPCA member-benefit magazine, National Parks. Text and photos shot by Ian Shive and the streaming multimedia was shot and produced by Wild Collective. The feature takes readers and viewers on a journey across the Island of Hawai’i—the largest in the chain of islands. The landscape comes alive as you fly over the primordial landscape of Volcanoes National Park, wind along the coastline to Pu’uhonau o Hōnaunau, and trek across the world’s largest mountain, Mauna Kea.

Join award-winning conservation photographer and author Ian Shive at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City, CA, on Thursday, June 3, 2010, 6:30 p.m., where he will present an archive of images that examine how our natural world interacts and is connected with the planet’s most valuable but increasingly threatened resource, fresh water, which constitutes 2.5 percent of the 70 percent of all water that covers Earth.

Ian’s photographs will trace the path that Arctic glaciers follow as they transform into rivers on the tundra, give witness to one of the world’s largest collections of terraced waterfalls in Eastern Europe two decades after the Bosnian Conflict of the 90s, as well as exploring the spiritually curative waters of the Ganges in the lower Himalayan Mountains and more.

Ian is the recent recipient of the Gold Medal, 2010 Nautilus Book Award, in the Great Peacekeepers category in recognition of his top-selling book The National Parks: Our American Landscape, released in August 2009 on Earth Aware Editions, for promoting “spiritual growth, conscious living and positive social change…and offering the reader “new possibilities” for a better life and world, joining previous Nautilus Award winners including Deepak Chopra, M.D., Eckhart Tolle, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, among others.

Referred to as the leading chronicler of America’s National Parks today and a self-labeled “wilderness diplomat,” Ian and his book The National Parks: Our American Landscape were the focus of a presentation on the challenges facing America’s most beloved landscapes in Washington, D.C. in November 2009, hosted by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Max Baucus.

Shive has dedicated his life to not only creating memorable photographs but also championing environmental awareness. Using photography as his primary tool, he has pioneered trends with new technologies to further the art of story telling through imagery. His photographs have appeared around the world in every major outdoor publication including National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Explorer, Outside Magazine, Sierra Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, National Parks Magazine, andPopular Science, as well as numerous other major publications.

Ian Shive is proud to announce that he is one of the contributing bloggers to the newly launched Outdoor Photographer magazine blog. Ian will be contributing not only his own blog entries from around the world, but also OP exclusive entries. Be sure to visit and check out all the other great contributors who are taking part in this exciting new endeavor.

I believe that we all feel a vibe, a resonation, with certain places in this world. I’ve heard surfers describe the feeling they get from being in saltwater as electrical, literally. They explain it as the electricity in our bodies producing a charge when dropped in a big bath of salt water like the ocean, a natural conductor. For me, living in the state of California often gives me that same charge. I’m not originally from this state but have been a resident for nearly 13 years, spending most of it exploring this magnificent stretch of land where mountains fade into sea, deserts succumb to fields of wildflowers and the oldest, tallest trees in the world reach for some of the clearest skies in our country. It’s a place where a photographer doesn’t need words to do the job of explanation. Of all of these places, one of my favorites is in Central California on a private ranch where great wine is harvested and horses ride in open fields. I was fortunate enough to spend a few days this week snapping some images that I felt most represented the almost cinematic backdrop that this great state offers.